The award winning online magazine for readers and writers of multi-cultural literature.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

FEATURED AUTHOR - Diane Dorce'

Shades Of Romance Magazine: Please give the readers a brief bio on you the person and the writer.

Diane Dorce': I am Diane Dorce', born and raised in Gary, Indiana. I started off like most writers, being an avid reader first. In 1992 I wrote and produced my first musical stage play, ALL GODS CHILDREN HAVE WINGS, in Atlanta, GA. Later in 2001, I self-published LOVING PENNY, a middle-grade read about one child’s dilemma with obesity. I formed the organization JAM4Kids to address the childhood obesity epidemic and provide our youth with program designed to keep them healthy and fit. I love to write and want nothing more than to make this my premier occupation.

SORMAG: Tell us about your current book?

DORCE': My current book, DEVIL IN THE MIST, can be categorized as romantic/suspense. Although there are elements of romance, the book deals heavily in suspense. Ex-NBA player turned detective, Zack Monstar is assigned a simple murder case. Two men dead, one black, one white, but somehow associated to the largest, wealthiest, health organization in the nation. After his friend, NBA All-star, Akewali Dimbi dies returning from Africa, Zack finds himself immersed in a murder case that will leave a trail of bodies from Africa to Atlanta. Zacks investigation leads him to Sashay, an exotic dancer whose brother is missing. Sashays volatile personality and seductive nature leads Zack into some troublesome waters, but it's Sashay who gives Zack his first break in the case. Zack is determined on solving this case and keeping his detective work front and center until he meets, WHS employee Regina Miller. In his quest for the truth, Zack discovers an intricate plot of mass proportions, involving government agencies, biological agents and deadly immunizations. In this modern day tale of David versus Goliath, Zack risks it all to save the woman he loves as he takes on the government, the world, and finally, THE DEVIL IN THE MIST.

SORMAG: What inspired this story?

DORCE': When I began writing this book, I was concerned about the onset of AIDS and curious about where it came from. There were many theories, some viable and others comical. The one theory I seemed to lean more towards was the one that AIDS was manufactured in a lab and created as a biological agent. You can read more about this theory on Dr. Boyd E. Graves’s website. This was the basis of my story, although I use a fictional virus, and one far more deadly one than AIDS. And then of course, I wanted to have a novel full of AA characters, especially an AA Detective, someone strong, and yet passionate, smart, good looking, sexy and a little bit troublesome.

SORMAG: What would you like your readers to take away from your book?

DORCE': First off, I want my readers to enjoy the to enjoy the ride, embrace, feel and see the characters. I want them to be entertained and informed. I want them to fall MADLY in love with Zack Monstar, since he will be my featured detective in a series I am writing. I want them to think and question the motives and actions of our government and the world abroad as they apply to the story and everyday events. Everything that we read in the newspapers or see on television is not all true. There is, in fact, a story behind every story.

SORMAG: How can readers learn more about your books and get in contact with you?

DORCE': My readers can lean more about my books on my website, www.dianedorce.com and email me at dorced58@yahoo.com.

6 comments:

Hello, Ms. Dorce. Your book sounds really interesting and filled with suspense. I am always interested in characters and wondered how you came up with the idea of taking an ex-NBA player and turning him into a detective?

Thank you everyone! Lori, I came up with the idea to have Zack the main character be an ex-NBA player because #1 I love basketball, #2 I wanted incorporate his background, the highs and the pitfalls with his new career as a detective. He is not the reluctant detective, however he has issues in his past that he feels he needs to resolve. In the next book a lot more of his past as a NBA player will be revealed and all of of will come to find out who Zack Monstar really is. Thanks for the questions and support.